This invention lies in the field of trailers of the general type towed by passenger vehicles and is directed to such trailers which may be reduced in size or dismantled for storage or transport. It is more particularly directed to such trailers which may be reduced or dismantled with a minimum of time and effort while retaining the stability and ruggedness of conventional trailers.
Small trailers suitable for carrying camping equipment and supplies and which may be towed by the average passenger car without difficulty have become increasingly popular in recent years. Even though they are small compared to a passenger car they are still wide enough and long enough to require virtually the same amount of storage space in a garage or shed. Hence, such a space, if available, must be set inside permanently for a vehicle which is used only occasionally or the trailer must be left out of doors which is generally undesirable.
It is not uncommon to tow a trailer long distances to deliver a load to a destination, after which it must remain in tow during the return trip requiring more driver attention than a vehicle without a tow.
Many efforts have been made to overcome these disadvantages but such efforts have been met with little or no success. For the purpose of reducing storage space, the trailer beds have been made removable from the chassis frames. With this arrangement a trailer bed may be set in vertical position and stored against a wall. The chassis frame and wheels will still take up almost as much floor space as the total trailer. This may be handled by upending the frame and storing it against a wall. The wheels will still project and form a substantial obstacle. In addition, a considerable amount of physical effort is required for the actions just mentioned.
Another scheme which has been tried is folding the wheels under the bed into somewhat flat position, upending the trailer, and storing it against the wall. This probably reduces the space requirement slightly but in return it calls for even greater physical effort because the entire vehicle now must be handled as a unit.
It has also been proposed to take the entire vehicle apart, removing the wheels from the axle, removing the axle from the springs, and disconnecting the various panels of the bed from each other and from the frame. This reduces the bulk but calls for much time and effort disconnecting innumerable bolts and nuts, and especially removing the wheels from the axle with the inevitable grime deposited on the hands and clothing.